North Carolina tornadoes damage 200 homes, injure a dozen

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. — Residents, meteorologists and emergency officials in eastern North Carolina were surveying the damage Saturday from multiple tornadoes that damaged more than 200 homes the previous day and sent more than a dozen people to the emergency room.

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Meteorologists said tornadoes with winds of more than 111 mph touched down in Pitt and Beaufort counties on Friday, and they were continuing to investigate storm damage.

Elsewhere, Texas, Oklahoma and other states in the Plains and Midwest were bracing for severe storms expected to start Saturday and continue overnight. There, the main threat was large hail and damaging wind gusts.

In North Carolina, Beaufort County Emergency Management director John Pack said 16 people were taken to the emergency room when the storms passed through around 7:25 p.m. Friday.

Pack said 200 homes were either heavily damaged or destroyed. Pictures on news websites showed residents salvaging items from crushed mobile homes in eastern North Carolina.

Officials reported at least three mobile homes were damaged near Chicod.

Associated Press

A man tries to salvage belongings from a overturned mobile home in Greenville, N.C., on Saturday, after a tornado touched down along Black Jack Simpson Road on Friday. Officials said multiple tornadoes damaged more than 200 homes on Friday and sent more than a dozen people to the emergency room.